Prune a Ficus Tree
The ficus or Weeping Fig tree makes a beautiful houseplant but it may grow too tall and wide for the space you have for it if it is happy in its spot. It’s quite simple to prune your ficus so that it can remain in the space you have for it. Pruning at the right time and in the right way may also make the plant fuller and more attractive.
Steps
- Get some bypass garden pruning shears to prune a ficus.
- Choose the right time to prune.
- Prune your ficus tree after new growth stops for the best results. Most ficus trees put out new growth in spring and early summer. Late summer and early fall are good times to prune.
- Prune right before bringing a ficus back indoors if it was summered outside.
- Pruning can be done anytime if it’s necessary to make the plant fit into a certain area.
- Prune off dead or broken branches at any time.
- Examine the tree to see where it needs to be controlled.
- Decide whether you need to limit the height or the width or both.
- Look at the form of the tree and try to prune so that the tree has a natural looking form.
- Look along the branches in the area you want to prune until you find a node. This is where a leaf or a twig joins the stem.
- Cut the branch on a slight downward slant just before a node.
- Cut as close to the node as you can without cutting into it.
- Always leave at least 1 node on a branch if you want new growth in that area.
- If you want to eliminate a branch so that no new growth occurs there, cut it back to just before the trunk or main limb and don’t leave a node.
Tips
- It is natural for ficus trees to become bare near the bottom as they grow higher. Trim off branches that become leafless.
Warnings
- A ficus may shed most of its leaves when exposed to a sudden temperature or light change. Don’t assume a branch is dead in this case. Feel the branch to see if it is still supple and look for tiny buds along the branch. Give the branches a month or so in the new conditions to see if they recover before pruning them off.
- Don’t use household scissors or anvil type pruning shears on living ficus branches. They damage living tissue. Anvil pruning shears can be used on dead branches.
Things You’ll Need
- Bypass pruning shears
Sources and Citations
- Hessayon, Dr.D.G., The Houseplant Expert, London, England, Expert Books, 1994, pgs. 142
